Gran Fracaso!
Bush achieves domestic legacy.
She notes it is an "uphill" fight for opponents, but if I read the Noam Askew cloture list right it's doable (barely). I've highlighted the Senators who are up for reelection in 2008. The longer the process is delayed, the more polls emerge demonstrating the bill's unpopularity. (Here's Zogby's. It's Zogby. And it's "Interactive." But it confirms what Rasmussen and then NBC/WSJ and Greenberg/Carville found.) ...
P.S.: Ed Morrissey has a Senate source who says Hutchison will announce against cloture. [Via Malkin, who also has a list.] ...
P.P.S.: But why focus only on Republicans? Not many Dem Senators relish being on the short side of a 50-25 issue either. Here are some Democrats worth lobbying who voted against cloture earlier this month:
Baucus (Mt.); Bingaman (N.M.); Boxer (Calif.); Pryor (Ark.);
Nor does it seem out of the question that some Democrats who recently voted for cloture--especially the ones who are up for reelection--might find an outpouring of popular opposition to the bill especially persuasive. Here are some of them:
Conrad (N.D.); Levin (Mich.); Nelson (Ne.); Reed (R.I.).
I remember when Levin's Congressman brother Sander, a vigorous opponent of the 1996 welfare reform, voted for the bill. He didn't want to lose his seat for a lost cause. ... Update: Note that Conrad is lumped with Dorgan as having "problems" with the bill here. ...
P.P.P.S.: Plus of course the Netrootsy Three: McCaskill (Mo.), Tester (Mont.) and Webb(Va.). The voted against cloture last time. ... And don't forget Sherrod Brown (Ohio), who un-Dobbsishly voted in favor. ...
That Senate contact list again. ... 11:30 A.M.
**** Non-Immigration Item ****
Richardson, nailed. [via RCP] 2:01 A.M.
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